The present invention relates generally to microplates that are typically used in the life sciences industry and more particularly to an apparatus for lidding and/or delidding microplates.
In the areas of biological, chemical and pharmaceutical research, it is a common practice to utilize microplates for storage and analytical purposes. Microplates (also commonly referred to in the art as multi-well plates, specimen plates and microtitre plates) have a block-shaped design and include a plurality of wells (e.g., 1, 2, 4, 6, 12, 24, 48, 96, 384, 1536, etc.) in its top surface, each well serving as an individualized receptacle for retaining a particular specimen.
It is well known in the art to seal the top surface of conventional microplates in order to, among other things, minimize the risk of contamination, degradation, moisture absorption and/or evaporation of specimens retained within each well. Presently, there are a number of different means for sealing conventional microplates.
As an example, it is well known for a foil seal to be affixed to the top surface of a microplate using a thermally activated adhesive. In order to access a particular well in the microplate after the foil seal has been applied (e.g., to retrieve a specimen retained therein), a laboratory technician either manually removes (i.e., peels off) at least a portion of the foil seal or punctures the portion of the foil that directly covers the particular well using a separate seal-piercing instrument.
Although widely used in the art, the use of a foil seal to enclose a microplate introduces a number of notable shortcomings. As a first shortcoming, it has been found to be rather difficult to adhere a secondary foil layer on a microplate after the primary foil layer has been removed or pierced, thereby precluding reuse of the microplate, which is highly undesirable. As a second shortcoming, it has been found to be rather difficult to determine the exact location of an individual well in a high density microplate (e.g., microplates with at least 1536 wells) through the foil seal. Accordingly, prior to locating the selected well using the foil piercing instrument, a laboratory technician often accidentally pierces the portion of the foil seal which directly covers one or more neighboring wells, which is highly undesirable.
As another example, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,534,014 to J. K. Mainquist et al, which is hereby incorporated by reference, there is disclosed a specimen plate lid that includes a sealing perimeter. In use, the lid is weighted so that when positioned on the specimen plate, the considerable weight of the lid compresses the seal against the sealing surface on the specimen plate.
Although known in the art, the lid described in the '014 patent suffers from two notable shortcomings. As a first shortcoming, the considerable weight associated with such a lid renders it difficult to use with most robots used in the life sciences market for picking and placing microtitre plates. As a second shortcoming, the footprint of such a lid is typically larger than the industry standard, thereby precluding its use with standard industry stackers, carousels and incubators.
As another example, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,939,516 to J. P. Hall et al., which is incorporated herein by reference, there is disclosed a multi-well plate cover that includes a lid and a gasket. The lid is formed of a resilient material and configured to apply a compressive spring force to the surface of the gasket to seal the wells in a multi-well plate when the cover is secured to the multi-well plate. The lid has members for mechanical manipulation and for attachment to the multi-well plate.
Although known in the art, the lid described in the '516 patent suffers from a notable shortcoming. Specifically, the lid described in the '516 patent is mechanically complex in nature. As a result, such a lid requires complicated and expensive machinery to assist in its sealing/removal through automated means, which is highly undesirable.
Other patents of interest include U.S. Pat. No. 6,254,833 to C. Shumate et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 6,543,203 to S. Thompson et al., both of these references being incorporated herein by reference.